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The Titanic Belfast visitor centre has been shortlisted for the International Interior Design of the Year award at LEAF, the Leading European Architects Forum, which takes place in Amsterdam this month.

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Designed by Torquay-based architect Kay Elliott, the interior of the 14,000 sq m building features a replica of the ship's grand staircase, made famous in James Cameron's firm Titanic, as well as nine interpretive and interactive galleries that tell the story of the ill-fated ship built in Belfast more than a century ago.

The near replica of the oak staircase in the first-class section of the Titanic, that famously hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912 and sank with the loss of more than 1,500 lives, weighs nearly four tonnes, is made up of 10,000 individual parts and took specialist joinery firm Oldtown Joinery more than four months to complete. The six-storey building also features a 1,000-seat banqueting space.

Praise for the museum has not been unanimous, however. The exterior of the aluminium-clad building, designed by CivicArts/Eric R Kuhne & Associates and Belfast-based Todd Architects, has had mixed reviews and has been nominated for this year's Carbuncle Cup, an award given for the ugliest new building of the year.
kayelliott.co.uk